Robert Chabbal (6 February 1927 – 14 September 2020) was a French physician and scientific researcher. He was Director General of the
French National Centre for Scientific Research
The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe.
In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...
(CNRS) from 1976 to 1979.
Biography
After his studies at the
École normale supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, Chabbal began his career as a physician. He became a professor at the Faculté des sciences de Paris in 1959 and at the
Paris-Saclay Faculty of Sciences
The Paris-Saclay Faculty of Sciences or Orsay Faculty of Sciences, in French : ''Faculté des sciences d'Orsay'', is the mathematics and physics school within Paris-Saclay University, founded in 1956. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees ...
in
Orsay
Orsay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in ĂŽle-de-France in northern France. It is located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris.
A fortifie ...
in 1965. He was also Director of the
Laboratoire Aimé-Cotton from 1962 to 1969.
In 1969, Chabbal became director of physical sciences at the CNRS. There, he founded the Programme interdisciplinaire de recherche pour l'Ă©nergie solaire (PIRDES), of which he became the director. He was Director General of the CNRS from 1976 to 1979, and gave great importance to the engineering sciences while in office.
From 1980 to 1983, Chabbal worked at
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
as Deputy Secretary General for Scientific Affairs. From 1983 to 1987, he led the Scientific and Technical Committee at the French Ministry of Research and Technology. From 1988 to 1992, he worked at the
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
in the department of science and technologies. He also chaired the Scientific Programs Committee of the
CNES
CNES () is the French national space agency. Headquartered in central Paris, the agency is overseen by the ministries of the Armed Forces, Economy and Finance and Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
It operates from the Toulouse Spac ...
. From 2005 to 2007, he worked in the ministerial cabinet of
François Goulard
François Goulard (; born 21 September 1953 in Vannes) was a member of the National Assembly of France. He represented the Morbihan department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He has been appointed as minister of transpo ...
and helped create Label Carnot. He worked on several boards of directors, including
Saint-Gobain
Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris as the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs, and today headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La DĂ©fense and in Courbevoie. Originally a ...
, ANVAR, and the
.
Robert Chabbal died on 14 September 2020 at the age of 93.
Reports
*''Un plan d'action pour les PME innovantes'' (1997)
*''Rapport sur la formation entrepreneuriale des ingénieurs'' (1998)
*''Rapport sur l'Enseignement supérieur en France'' (2007)
*''Le devenir de l'Ingénierie'' (2008)
Distinctions
*Honorary Member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (, IVA), founded on 24 October 1919 by King Gustaf V, is one of the royal academies in Sweden. The academy is an independent organisation, which promotes contact and exchange between business, ...
(1976)
*Commander of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaball, Robert
1927 births
2020 deaths
20th-century French educators
20th-century French scientists
Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research